Monday, June 9, 2008

The Global Wildlife Center is located in Folsom, La.I went there yesterday with my parents and some of my mom's coworkers, Patrick couldn't make it because of work. It was a lot of fun and I even fed a llama and a Giraffe out of my hands. Having the Giraffe eat out of my hand felt a lot like when I give my dog Dozer, who is a Boxer a treat. They have really soft muzzles and sort of stick their long tongues into my hand to make sure they get everything. The tips of their tongues are a very dark purple, almost black. The tour guide told us the tongues are this color so that they don't get sun burnt. They spend about half of their lives with their tongues sticking out picking leaves from high trees.

I've loved llamas since I saw the movie The Emperor's New Groove. That's the movie I watch when I'm feeling sick. One of my favorite things about llamas is their fur. It is very soft and can be made into yarn.

The scarf in the picture below was made with Baby Llama yarn. It is very soft and warm. I purchased the yarn last year when I was in Natchez, Mississippi for the Balloon Fest. The store where I bought it was really nice and the people were very friendly and helpful. The store is called Natchez Needle Arts. The store sells yarn and things for knitting/crochet on one side and needlepoint/embroidery on the other. Patrick and my dad's favorite part of the shop was the comfy sofa in the front of the store.

Going this time of year was interesting because of all of the baby birds and animals around. The cutest in my opinion were the baby Rhea birds. They were so tiny and they all stayed in a group by their father. Rachael, our tour guide told us that the males mate with many females and when the babies are born, the mothers leave the babies for the fathers to take care of. If, in about a year, the mother comes back and doesn't like the way the father is raising the babies, she pulls his tail feathers out. I'm sure this hurts, but the real problem for him when this happens is that the tail feathers are the way he attracts mates.

The Zebras are the one animal that we were warned about. Our tour guide said "The Zebras are black, white and mean all over". They really didn't look all that mean. They are beautiful, even if they aren't the nicest animals in the world.

There were also many deer, antelope, gazelle, kangaroo and even some camels.